Seconds away from victory

Men’s basketball loses to VIU

By Courtnie Martin, Sports Reporter

The Royals put forth a tremendous effort against the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners on November 29. Although Douglas faced adversity with fouling early on, they managed to stay in the game.

In the first quarter of the game, VIU kept a strong hold on both ends of the floor. Douglas’ offence didn’t run as smoothly as they had hoped. That being said, they managed to stay close, ending the first quarter at a deadlock score of 25 all. Kristian Hildebrandt put in a remarkable first half, shooting a whopping 80 per cent from the field and hitting 75 per cent of his three-pointers.

Following a huge performance from the team’s captain, Ryan Hopson contributed eight points to the half. Douglas let the score get away from them in the second quarter, though, and headed into halftime down 46-39. The third quarter was quite a show. Every player on the floor contributed to Douglas’ comeback. Ethan McKean hit a huge three, followed by another huge play from Grant Campbell. Douglas was showing heart and rattling the Mariners.

“I was very happy with us battling back; we were down double-digits. To come back and even be up at some points, I was very happy with that. Andrew [Baron] is our most consistent player on the floor and him being out changed the options on offence and the rotations on defence, but we can win without our better players,” said coach Denis Beausoleil.

The fourth quarter was very intense and the game depended on the final minutes of play. Baron and Bradyn Norris were both in foul trouble. The Royals did what they could to protect them through the fourth, but Baron fouled out in the first few minutes. The team didn’t let up though. Norris made four back-to-back layups in the key, putting Douglas up by one with two minutes left in the game. VIU traded crucial buckets with Douglas through the last 45 seconds of the game before the hosts went up by one again with 19 seconds left on the clock. The Royals appeared to have a great stop defensively, but the referees felt otherwise. They were called for a block that sent the Mariners to the free-throw line, from where they hit both. Now down by one, the ball was in Grant Campbell’s hands. His drive to lane was unsuccessful though, and the Royals committed a quick foul to stop the clock. Unfortunately, Douglas wouldn’t have enough time to come back, and the game finished 83-79. Although this was a team effort for Douglas with four players in double-digits—Hildebrandt with 16, Campbell with 14, McKean with 13, and Norris with 16—Douglas left defeated.

“That was a good game! It just shows that we can gun with anyone. We took the third ranked team in Canada to the limit,” said Hildebrandt.